There's a terrible idea going round that I thought we had dismissed in all but extremist circles. But it was repeated today on Radio 4 by an august professor. It is the suggestion that kids are vaccinated more for the social good than their own good. Therefore the risks...
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... associated with vaccine for kids have to weigh more heavily in the cost/benefit analysis. The underlying thought is "they're getting vaccinated more for us than them" so we must proceed with great caution. Sounds reasonable, but it really is lousy thinking. Here's why:
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Forget, for a moment, that children do get seriously ill with covid and remember that, even if they were 100% invulnerable, it would remain in their palpable and direct interest to have healthy, living family members at home.
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Even on the narrowest, tightest definition of the self-interest of the child, vaccination is vital. Children need adults. The end.
Or not quite. I don't think they need adults who continually find ways to justify delays in protecting them, for reasons which patently ARE...
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Or not quite. I don't think they need adults who continually find ways to justify delays in protecting them, for reasons which patently ARE...
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... to do with their agendas and not the interests of our children. When we hear improbable concern about the mental health of kids from those with no previous record of such concern, we know to be sceptical. But we should also beware of the more measured-sounding arguments...
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.. invoking "balance of risks" etc around kids, because in the end they contribute to the astonishing delay, even refusal, to protect the next generation. Kids need vaccine and clean classroom air. And that really is the end of it.
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